The hand-made vibe is in the big things, like the slap of white paint sketchily coating the brick wall; the little things, like folded-paper flowers in jars on each table; and the important things, like the clean, home-style food.

The dosas are $12.50, which may be a sting if you're used to paying up to five bucks Footscray-way. The crackling-crisp paper-thin "pancake" is filled with a mildly spiced potato curry and comes with tangy dhal and sensational fresh-coconut chutney. As a dish, it may look like shades of brown, but there is space between the flavours, and each is cleanly defined.

Same goes for a spinach and chickpea curry: the light gravy, tinged with garam masala, brings whole chickpeas and shreds of spinach together into a warmly textured whole. You can taste the minerals in the perky spinach puree that binds cubes of paneer.